Hughes will report into Eithne Williamson, VP Princess Cruises UK and Europe
Nick Hughes has been appointed Princess Cruises’ new sales director for UK and Europe, replacing Rachel Poultney in leading the sales team, effective from October 17.
He will report into Eithne Williamson VP Princess Cruises UK and Europe who adopted her current role in June.
Connecting with trade
Of the new appointment Williamson said, ‘We are delighted to announce Nick as our new sales director and we look forward to him bringing his wealth of travel knowledge and experience to our sales team.
‘Nick’s relationships within the trade allow him to build upon the strong rapport our team already has with travel agents, taking Princess from strength to strength.’
She went on to thank Poultney for her ‘hard work and dedication’ to the brand. She also noted that ‘Rachel has been a valued asset to the team, having held the position of sales director for more than six years, and her commitment has helped us achieve significant milestones throughout the years, such as our biggest-ever booking day back in June. She will be missed, and we wish her well in her new ventures.’
A strong background in the travel sector
Hughes has had a broad career in the travel industry, most recently as sales director, tour operations for dnata B2B, across the Gold Medal (and previously) Travel 2 brands. He sits on the membership committee at ABTA and was appointed chairman of TIPTO in 2019 – a group of leading suppliers providing training across the UK for the UK travel trade.
Remarked Simon Applebaum, MD, Gold Medal, ‘Nick’s been a valued member of the Gold Medal and dnata Travel Group UK leadership team during his time with us, and we all wish him well with his future endeavours. Thanks to his expertise and professionalism, our relationships with travel agency partners across the UK have never been stronger and have ensured we remain the trade’s favourite long haul tour operator.
‘As a result of his stewardship of our sales function over the last five years, we can look to the future with optimism.’
He went on to say that Princess is ‘an important partner’ and Gold Medal is ‘excited by the prospect of continuing to work with Nick in his new role to maximise opportunities for both brands.’ He also said, ‘We look forward to continuing our close partnership with Princess, fulfilling our shared commitment to agents, and converting the impressive demand for cruising that we’re seeing.’
An active member of dnata’s Diversity and Inclusion programme, Hughes additionally sits on dnata’s UK charity board.
Joining a ‘high calibre’ team
Hughes has a track record of building successful sales and marketing teams and has widespread knowledge across multiple sectors, agency groups and suppliers. Commenting on his appointment, he said, ‘I’m really happy to be joining the Princess Cruises team, especially at such an exciting time in the cruise sector.
‘Being so renowned for its quality, service and of course the reputation of its high calibre team within the travel industry, I hope to support, continue and build on the great work Eithne and the Princess Cruises team have delivered to date.’
